Dover business booming

Sunday

Feb 17, 2013 at 3:15 AMFeb 17, 2013 at 2:31 PM

By Michelle Kingstonmkingston@fosters.com

DOVER — Walking down Central Avenue today is a different stroll than it was just a few years ago, with new stores thriving, restaurants serving and families starting their lives here in the Garrison City.

Business seems to be booming and bringing young people here to find jobs, buy homes and put their children through the city's educational system.

This sudden increase in population, success and popularity was intentional, according to Dover's economic developer Dan Barufaldi.

“It is not something that just happened or started yesterday,” Barufaldi said of Dover's growth and likability. “It slowly and very carefully was built and built and built upon and it's coming along rather nicely.”

He does not believe the increase in business is a boom, but a well-planned growth program that has been laid out by the city in its master plan and its Business and Industrial Authority Strategic Plan.

“Finding the right ways to accommodate the targeted type growth has been both challenging and fun and is certainly rewarding in terms of benefits to the citizens of Dover,” Barufaldi said.

He added that the city has worked to bring businesses here by lending a hand and showing them what Dover has to offer.

He said the technical review committee in the city works with people looking to open businesses.

“We have aspects of all government around the table at the same time, where people can come and discuss what they are looking to open and two weeks later, can come back in and we can tweak plans,” he said. “Police, fire, engineer and planning departments can then go and advocate for the developer with the planning board.”

“Time is money, so this is an attraction,” Barufaldi said.

Molly Hodgson Smith, executive director of the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce, said Dover is not only appealing because of the work the city does to help businesses move here, but also because of its close proximity to Interstate 95 and Routes 4, 9, 108 and 155, and because it's just an hour away from Portland, Maine and Boston.

“An average of 50 to 80 people a morning take the train to Boston everyday,” Barufaldi said, adding residents also ride to Maine.

While some residents do live in Dover and work elsewhere, the city's unemployment rate is down to 4.3 percent. The city offers 2.1 percent more jobs now than it did at the beginning of the recession.

While about 17,000 Dover residents are employed, approximately 8,000 residents actually work in the community, according to Barufaldi.

The city has 520 operating businesses — about 50 more than when Barufaldi first arrived four years ago.

“That is a very attractive thing for people,” Barufaldi said.

More than 30,000 people now call Dover home -- an increase of 17,000 since 100 years ago.

He credits this growth to Dover's location and lifestyle.

“Texas is the fastest job-growing state in the country, but if you look in those towns, you don't want to live there,” Barufaldi said. “Dover has it all. It's a great place to live, with cultural and recreational activities, waterfront location, pools, an ice arena with good educational and health care systems.”

For the last decade, Dover has been the fastest growing city in the state and for the past two years, it has been named as one of the top 100 communities for young people.

In the past four years alone, 50 new businesses and 500 new employees have settled here, anxious to succeed in a community with an up-and-coming downtown and an educational system sure to please a new family.

Dover has three public elementary schools, one public middle school, one public high school, two private high schools, one private elementary school and one charter high school.

As for businesses, in December 2012, 11 new members joined the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce, including Families in Transition, AT&T, East Commerce Solutions and The Duffy Agency. Hodgson Smith said the chamber had to reset its goals when its initial one — to have 40 new members by November — was reached by May.

“We ended up with almost 100 new members in 2012, which, I looked back and in history books, the highest number we had seen in new members in any previous year was in the low 60s,” she said. “I think that is very telling.”

These members are not necessarily new businesses, but they are businesses that are looking to be more involved and interact with the city.

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital currently has 2,217 employees and is one of the largest businesses in the city. The hospital gives back $23 million a year through its community outreach program, according to vice president of community relations, Noreen Biehl.

Liberty Mutual, with 2,874 employees in four different Dover locations, gave more than $1.8 million back to the community.

Businesses and families are attracted to Dover because of the community involvement, but also because of how much community is still open for growth.

There are 17,087 acres of land and more than half of that land is vacant. According to a report by the Planning Board, 419 new homes will be built from 2006 to 2015.

“For the past decade, we've been the fastest growing community in New Hampshire,” Barufaldi said.

More than 3,000 people have moved to Dover since 2000, moving the city from the seventh-most populous community in the state to the fifth-most populous community in the state.

According to a study by the Planning Department, “This growth has been driven by, and reflective of, the changes that have occurred in Dover over the past 15 years, including the development of the Downeaster train service through Dover, the coming of the Children's Museum of New Hampshire, and the economic growth of Liberty Mutual, Measured Progress and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital.”

Not only has the population grown, but 676 marriage licenses were distributed and there were 577 births from 2010-2012.

“We're also a lot younger than the rest of New Hampshire,” Barufaldi said, adding that households with children under 18 are growing at a rate of 10.4 percent. “That tends to be a positive thing for companies around us.”

Barufaldi said communities around Dover are home to an aging population, while the Garrison City is getting younger.

Hodgson Smith agreed.

“Dover is experiencing sort of this perfect storm of economic growth and high livability,” she said. “We are the only city that is experiencing growth in the demographic of young families. While the majority of the state is aging and graying, Dover is experiencing growth in its younger population. That is really promising for the city overall.”

An example of this is recent graduate Laurie Raybould, who moved from Minneapolis to Dover to start her first business, Lolly, a candy store, which will open in March. Raybould also got married in September 2012, and more than half of the vendors for her special day were located in the Garrison City.

Dover impressed Raybould because of its location, friendliness, New England community feel and its waterfront.

The Cocheco River waterfront development project has been in the works for many years now. Director of Planning and Community Development Chris Parker said they had a charrette, or a brainstorming session, on the property in 2005 and chose the developer, Mark Dickinson, two years later. A Land Disposition Agreement was signed in 2009. The project would bring restaurants, commercial buildings, high-end apartments and condominiums and additional parking to the city. In mid-February, Dover City Council members voted in support of extending Dickinson's agreement with Dover, giving him an additional 15 months to line up investors so he can break ground.

While many restaurants and businesses are moving in — and more could be enticed by the waterfront project — there are also many that have been in Dover for years and are constantly reinventing themselves.

For example, the Barley Pub recently moved into a larger restaurant space and plans to open a microbrewery. Blue Latitudes, Cartelli's and Kelley's Row have teamed up to give diners free valet parking through Atlantic Parking Services.

The city also hopes to renovate the playground at Henry Law Park within the next few years to add state-of-the-art slides, swings, waterfalls and stages. A proposal for a new aquatic center is also in the works, and a new police station and parking garage will soon be constructed.

“Downtown city parking lots are also going to be transformed into developments,” Economic Developer Barufaldi said. “They'll be restaurants and storefronts on the first floor, offices on the second floor and several floors of residential apartments with balconies.”

Barufaldi is not only working on bringing business and people to the city permanently, but is also interested in Dover's tourism.

He said a weekend trip to Dover brings in dollars, and with swim meets and hockey tournaments as they are now, the city receives upward of $300,000 through hosting sporting events.

“This will only increase,” Barufaldi said, discussing the possibility of the Jenny Thompson Aquatic Center being built.

Weekday mornings are bustling downtown with so many new residents traveling to and from work. The Planning Department has started hosting extensive brainstorming sessions to learn what residents are looking for in the city and what might be the best way to improve the gateways to central Dover.

“We have always striven in the economic development process to retain a positive balance to maintain the character and quality of life that Dover represents,” Barufaldi said.

Parker said a strong quality of life is connected to a strong local economy, and that that can be achieved by “thoughtful planning.”

“I see the business growth as a slow boil, not a boom,” he said, adding Dover has been aware of the changing economy and market, and has adapted in order to grow.

“Dover wants to be inviting to multiple industries, but also attract those businesses which understand the evolving demographics we have in Dover, which tend to be highly educated and culturally aware,” Parker said.

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